ISLAMABAD: The government has so far verified the registration of 1.9 million (or 268,674 families) internally displaced people, earlier registered under a fast-track process, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

A press release issued by the UN agency on Tuesday said the number included people displaced from Swat, Buner, Shangla, Malakand and Lower Dir after the military operation launched in April and also those displaced from Bajaur and Mohmand agencies after last year’s operation.

Only 10 per cent of the displaced people are staying in camps, while the rest of them are staying elsewhere.

In Yar Hussain camp, 1,170 people were registered on Monday.

‘The UNHCR wants to scale up its assistance to people staying outside of camps, and is procuring more relief items. We urgently need funds to buy more supplies.
We still require $67 million for our operation in Pakistan until the end of the year. This figure may need to be revised if the number of displaced people rises,’ it said.

The commission is looking for additional land because people who were previously living with their relatives or in government buildings are now arriving in camps.

Some new arrivals said they did not want to be a burden on host families with limited financial resources, while others said they had been living in schools in villages where they received little help.

Two new camps which opened last week are almost full. One of them, near a sugar mill in Charsadda, now hosts 2,800 people, and the other, in Larama in Peshawar, is hosting 4,800 people.

People are now being directed to the Jalozai camp, in Nowshera, which now hosts around 97,000 displaced people, including 52,000 who arrived since early May.

Others are being directed to Yar Hussain camp, in Swabi, which hosts 29,000 people. These camps are being expanded.

‘We are discussing the possibility of setting up a new camp in Hazara district. More than 235,000 people are now staying in 21 organised camps in the NWFP, according to local authorities,’ the statement said.

The number included more than 148,000 people displaced during the past five weeks. About 100,000 others are staying in schools and other government buildings.

With the lifting of curfew on Tuesday in Chakdara, more people might opt to go to safe areas.

The UNHCR, in partnership with the Sarhad Rural Support Programme, will start distributing relief goods to diplaced people staying in schools, host families and rented accommodations in Charssada and Nowshera districts.